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When Izaia Perese went down with a knee-injury against England in Brisbane the entire rugby community felt the agony and disappointment for the Wallabies utility back.
For a young man who had already experienced the highs and lows of professional sport, the sight of seeing him leaving the Suncorp Stadium pitch on a stretcher in his first Test appearance on home soil was a sorry one.
Yet for Perese, who six years earlier was taken on a Spring Tour by Michael Cheika, the season-ending injury was a “blessing in disguise”.
“It [the injuries] has been frustrating, but I think towards the end of my season, I think it was the week of the second England Test, I was at breaking point,” Perese told The Roar.
Izaia Perese of Australia goes off injured during game two of the International Test Match series between the Australia Wallabies and England. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
In a year when Michael Hooper stepped away from the game, Perese, who was given a chance to reignite his career at the Waratahs after a drug-related incident threatened to end his journey in rugby before it had properly got off the ground, gives a raw insight into the emotional struggle of having to be away from his young family.
“Emotionally I would go and see my family, so I would drive from the Goldy to the Sunny Coast and emotionally I didn’t want to leave the Sunny Coast,” Perese said.
“I wanted to be there with my kids.
“It’s been a tough year in a sense going to and from Sydney and the Sunshine Coast, where my new-born boys are. I feel like I was emotionally out of it.
“I wanted to stay with my family, but I have a job to do. I had a kid ticking on.”
Perese has three children under the age of five, including twin one-year-olds.
“I wanted to be around there, so I was beating myself up in the head. Mentally weighing things up when I shouldn’t have been,” he said.
“When I got injured, it was a huge blessing in disguise [because] it allowed me to get right again. I was battling.
“I was managing a patella tendinitis for about seven years, so it was bound to go. But, also, it gave me quality time with my family and time to reset mentally. Just reset for the 2023 year ahead.”
Izaia Perese takes on the defence during an Australia Wallabies captain’s run at Suncorp Stadium on July 08, 2022 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Perese, 25, promises to be a trump card for Dave Rennie’s Wallabies in next year’s World Cup season.
The outside centre, who started his career on the wing, has appeared for the Wallabies on just three occasions but on the evidence of his debut against Scotland, as well as his form in Super Rugby for the past two seasons, he could yet play a significant role in 2023.
Strong in contact, Perese has been a tackle-busting machine for the Waratahs since heading south in 2021.
His explosiveness has offered the Waratahs a genuine point of difference.
With the Wallabies sweating on Samu Kerevi making a successful comeback from injury, with others like Lalakai Foketi and Hunter Paisami Test options but also injury-prone, Perese’s utility value and straight-running could be explored more and more by Rennie.
Perese is hopeful of being fit for the opening Super Rugby round against the Brumbies in Sydney on February 24.
If he is back, it will put him on a collision course with regular Wallabies outside centre Len Ikitau.
In a World Cup year, the contest has extra meaning – even if Ikitau is likely one of a handful of players who will already be pencilled into Rennie’s World Cup squad.
“It would mean a lot. I think just being there [the World Cup] would be a huge achievement,” Perese said.
“Getting on the field and playing 13 would be great. But, in saying that, Lenny has done an amazing job over the last two years now with the Wallabies. I just watch him and think, ‘frick, that’s the standard,’ so it’s a pretty high standard.
“At the end of the day, I just want to be a consistent player and do everything right for the team. Everything else, Wallabies or whatever is out there outside of the Waratahs, it will come if I perform but my main focus is getting on the field and being a part of this pre-season.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.